The news is not good.  According to my morning newspaper, unemployment in my state is up to six percent, a four-year high.  Nationwide, the number is even higher.

While six percent doesn’t sound like much, that equates to 200,000 people, in my state alone, who are out of work and receiving unemployment insurance.  This doesn’t take into account those who have been out of work so long they are no longer eligible.  Many of these folks have found themselves jobless despite many years of experience and loads of talent and potential.  The mistakes weren’t theirs – but they’ve paid the price nonetheless.

Are you one of those people?

Gone are the days of the benevolent “mother ship,” the secure corporation where you began work right after college (or sometimes even right out of high school), worked your way up, and retired with a generous pension to enjoy your “golden years.”  In the “good old days,” there were no worries about health care, salaries were raised, if not generously, at least regularly, and if you did your job well there was little fear of losing it. 

Today, the employee who stays too long in one place gets stale.  Self-improvement and continuing education are not just encouraged, they’re mandatory to stay current.  Refining existing skills and acquiring new ones are necessary, and changing jobs every few years is the norm.  While this helps a person seeking new employment potentially stand out from his or her competition, when there are more – these days, many, many more – qualified candidates for each available job, it still may be a long road.  Add to that the companies that routinely go out of business.  Some have burned out quickly, but some have thrived for decades or even centuries, making their demise that much more disturbing.

DO YOU NEED A JOB?

If you’re in the throes of a “career crisis” – whether you’ve been laid off, or still have a job that seems precarious – It may be time to start thinking outside the “job” box.  It may not seem like it, but now is a perfect time to evaluate your circumstances, and whether you’ve been living the life you’d envisioned.   For most people, the answer is that they’ve veered a little off course. 

It’s easy to do. 

As humans, we tend to cling to the familiar, whether or not it’s enjoyable.   We find ourselves with financial and social obligations, and can’t see how we can fulfill them without the security of our continuing employment.  But what happens when we’re forced to view our lives through a different lens?

FREE AGENCY – IT’S NOT JUST FOR SPORTS STARS

In his groundbreaking book, Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself, Daniel Pink explains that “Free agency is reconfiguring the basic assumptions of American work and life.”

In what he terms “Tailorism,” “free agents fashion their work lives to suit their own needs and desires – instead of accepting the uniform values, rules and structure of a traditional job.”  Pink calls this the “My Size Fits Me” philosophy (as opposed to the One Size Fits All of some corporate jobs).

Could you be a Free Agent?

Set aside for the moment the urgent need to “find a job.”  Take a few minutes, and a few deep breaths, and think about how you’d really like your life to look.  In an ideal world, what time would you get out of bed?  What would you do next?  What sort of work would make you feel that your efforts were contributing to the greater good, were fulfilling your life purpose?  What kinds of activities make you forget about time and get lost in the enjoyment of it?

“Yes, that’s all well and good,” you may be thinking, “but nobody is going to pay me to make sandcastles on the beach!  And besides, how could that possibly contribute to the betterment of society?”

As the old saying goes, where there’s a will (and, I’ll add, a passion and commitment), there’s a way.  Just ask Marc and Michelle Africano, who’ve built a small business doing just that (see www.africano.org).

“Wow, that’s really cool,” you say.  But I don’t live near the beach, and I need to do something NOW to pay the mortgage.  And I really did like my job, I want to find another one just like it.”

Take another few minutes and explore that.  What exactly did you like about your job?  Be specific.  Was it the creative thinking you were able to engage in?  Did you really like the people that you worked with, or the ambience of the office?  Did you like brainstorming meetings, or finding new customers, or creating charts and reports?  What did you not like about it.  Do you really want to find one just like it?

Free agency has the added appeal of being completely within your control.  If the work you were doing was fulfilling, if you really did love it, consider consulting or temporary work.  Companies may be gunshy about hiring, especially if they’ve recently gone through painful layoffs .  But the work still needs to be done. 

Do a little research.  What are the needs of companies in your industry.  What skills at which you excel could fill those needs?  If your industry is in complete turmoil, how could your skills benefit companies in other industries?  What about small businesses?  Think about a problem you could solve for someone  and approach them with a proposal for contract work.  Once you’ve figured out your niche and have a few clients, you can choose for whom and for how long (and for how much) you’ll work.

For more inspiration, check out Barbara Winter’s book, Making a Living Without a Job.    And start thinking about your opportunities.

It’s not always easy to see the silver lining in the cloud of a career crisis.  But looking through the lens of opportunity is a good way to start. 

For a personal consultation and to discover ways you can make a living outside of traditional employment, contact Kate Fessler at kate@inspiration4success.com.